If by Monday.... 20:31 - Aug 13 with 10409 views | itfcjoe | ....we have Oli Hawkins, David Cornell and Stephen Ward through the door Will the fans be happy that we've got our business done early and seemingly got players who were towards the top of our targets list? |  |
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If by Monday.... on 23:11 - Aug 13 with 3528 views | pointofblue |
If by Monday.... on 22:48 - Aug 13 by PhilTWTD | Not any definites I know of. Nsiala will go I think, but not sure where yet and there'll be a few of the kids out on loan. Not sure of any other senior exits. We're going to need a big squad for the mad two-games-a-week-for-months-on-end schedule we're going to have.
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Oh great - Lambert was bad enough last year with the rotation; our only hope is every team will be suffering and we have enough depth to take advantage of it. Team A: Cornell, Vincent-Young, Ward, Woolfenden, Chambers, Downes, Huws, Bishop, Edwards, Jackson, Norwood Team B: Holy, Donacien, Kenlock, Wilson, +1 (Nsiala), Skuse, Dozzell, Nolan, Dobra, Sears, Hawkins Will we be looking to sign a centre back if we do sell Nsiala? [Post edited 13 Aug 2020 23:15]
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If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 with 3517 views | PhilTWTD |
If by Monday.... on 23:11 - Aug 13 by pointofblue | Oh great - Lambert was bad enough last year with the rotation; our only hope is every team will be suffering and we have enough depth to take advantage of it. Team A: Cornell, Vincent-Young, Ward, Woolfenden, Chambers, Downes, Huws, Bishop, Edwards, Jackson, Norwood Team B: Holy, Donacien, Kenlock, Wilson, +1 (Nsiala), Skuse, Dozzell, Nolan, Dobra, Sears, Hawkins Will we be looking to sign a centre back if we do sell Nsiala? [Post edited 13 Aug 2020 23:15]
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Think they definitely want a centre-half, hence interest in Keogh. I think they've been working to the assumption Toto will be moving on. Will be interesting to see what scope they've got within the salary cap limit once the current three are sorted. Worth noting we'll have 23 over-21s so someone will have to move on (or spend a season only playing in the U23s while on a big wage). |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 with 3516 views | Horsham |
If by Monday.... on 23:11 - Aug 13 by pointofblue | Oh great - Lambert was bad enough last year with the rotation; our only hope is every team will be suffering and we have enough depth to take advantage of it. Team A: Cornell, Vincent-Young, Ward, Woolfenden, Chambers, Downes, Huws, Bishop, Edwards, Jackson, Norwood Team B: Holy, Donacien, Kenlock, Wilson, +1 (Nsiala), Skuse, Dozzell, Nolan, Dobra, Sears, Hawkins Will we be looking to sign a centre back if we do sell Nsiala? [Post edited 13 Aug 2020 23:15]
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No Sears or Judge in either team. We still have a lot of players. Maybe between Skuse and Hawkins we have already replaced Toto as second reserve centre back? |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 23:21 - Aug 13 with 3489 views | pointofblue |
If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 by Horsham | No Sears or Judge in either team. We still have a lot of players. Maybe between Skuse and Hawkins we have already replaced Toto as second reserve centre back? |
I overlooked Sears; have put him in now. Can't help but think this may be a season too far for Judge. We certainly have options on midfield but the right back and centre back positions seem to lack depth, unless Cotter suddenly returns to favour and shows some of that promise from Mick's last game in charge. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 23:29 - Aug 13 with 3467 views | ChiefXL |
If by Monday.... on 21:01 - Aug 13 by azuremerlangus | With Sophie B Hawkins as third choice before him... |
Damn, wish I was your striker |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 23:40 - Aug 13 with 3436 views | TheTrueBlue1878 | Yes. Would find it hard to have too much to begrudge. The obvious one is Stephen Ward age/fitness concerns. After speaking to a few more Stoke friends they really think his legs have gone, but whether that’s down to him not constantly playing up there I don’t know. Hawkins/Cornell, very good additions. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 23:47 - Aug 13 with 3421 views | BtreeBlueBlood |
If by Monday.... on 20:54 - Aug 13 by Horsham | I’m ok with these 3. Realistically we needed players in those positions. Was our goalkeeper signing going to be vastly superior to Holy given 1/ Holy is not bad and 2/ there is a salary cap and 3/ covid Ward is the one that I am most meh about but if he works out as exemplary senior professional in a position we aren’t strong in I can see that being good. I’m hoping Lambert has judged his character well. Hawkins, a bit like Cornell, with NORWOOD and Jackson being amongst our better players last season was the expectation to sign someone to be picked ahead of them? If so that would need some serious money which 1/ we aren’t allowed to spend and 2/ Marcus may not be able to spend. And perhaps critically we so far have sold no one even though there was a widespread acceptance that Downes (our best player) would be sold and likely Woolfenden too. Lambert needs to improve seriously but he’s still here and he’s not going anywhere yet so I just hope he turns it around. Because if he does we all win don’t we? |
If they are sold would we be able to get someone in?,as the wage cap can kill us! We still need a winger and a fast striker? |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 00:09 - Aug 14 with 3397 views | TheTrueBlue1878 |
If by Monday.... on 23:47 - Aug 13 by BtreeBlueBlood | If they are sold would we be able to get someone in?,as the wage cap can kill us! We still need a winger and a fast striker? |
Downes and Woolf won’t be leaving now I don’t reckon, and I was one of the wide acceptance who thoughts they originally would. We don’t need a wide man and a fast striker. We’ve got Kayden Jackson, how much faster do you want to get? |  |
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If by Monday.... on 00:46 - Aug 14 with 3363 views | runaround | I would be fairly pleased with those 3. The salary cap has left us scrabbling around for cheap punts at this level but the 3 potential signings are probably as good as we could hope for in the current climate & will fill holes in the squad. One interesting thing though will be what ME will do if PFA are successful in getting salary cap delayed or overturned legally. Will he be willing to then pay better wages to get better players? |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 06:42 - Aug 14 with 3304 views | Libero |
If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 by PhilTWTD | Think they definitely want a centre-half, hence interest in Keogh. I think they've been working to the assumption Toto will be moving on. Will be interesting to see what scope they've got within the salary cap limit once the current three are sorted. Worth noting we'll have 23 over-21s so someone will have to move on (or spend a season only playing in the U23s while on a big wage). |
Seems absolutely crazy to me that they haven’t moved for Tommy Smith. |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 07:30 - Aug 14 with 3251 views | pointofblue |
If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 by PhilTWTD | Think they definitely want a centre-half, hence interest in Keogh. I think they've been working to the assumption Toto will be moving on. Will be interesting to see what scope they've got within the salary cap limit once the current three are sorted. Worth noting we'll have 23 over-21s so someone will have to move on (or spend a season only playing in the U23s while on a big wage). |
I’d gamble it will be Donacien - Lambert’s never rated him and seems to think he’s a centre back anyway where we have Woolfenden, Chambers, Wilson and possibly Hawkins already. If we do bring in a further CB I guess Wilson could be moved on too though I thought he did an alright job last season. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 08:17 - Aug 14 with 3216 views | hype313 | I suppose it is what it is, we were never going to sign anyone high profile, so at least we have competition for Holy, Hawkins looks like someone who will come on for the last 10 to try and nick a winner in a tight game and Ward is a solid LB that gives us a bit of experience. The main problem of course is the Manager, we could have brought in Aubameyang, Salah and De Bruyne, but I'd still have concerns over tactics, man management, rotation etc... |  |
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We'd be in a better position than..... on 08:35 - Aug 14 with 3187 views | Dyland |
We'd be in a better position than..... on 20:47 - Aug 13 by Bloots | ...we are now. Assuming that nobody "important" leaves then I think we'd have enough cover across the squad. It would then be down to the "manager" to get the best out of them, improve the basics and get us playing in a distinct, effective and consistent style. There can be no excuses. |
If Downes and/or Woolfenden go maybe we can get a season loan back. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 08:43 - Aug 14 with 3164 views | Mullet | We’ve been told Norwood is far better than we’ve seen and was injured etc. Time to prove it. Holy was better than Norris, if he can’t keep Cornell out or Lambert can’t manage him we have the same issues. There’s been a lot of hype and hope around the kids. Ward allows us someone for 30 or so games to help them and be around the place to mentor. Realistically last season was appalling and as much as that’s down to Lambert, there are too many players already in the door who need to show more so signing players should be about allowing that to happen. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 08:49 - Aug 14 with 3147 views | Dyland |
If by Monday.... on 21:40 - Aug 13 by rfretwell | Back in Sir Bobby's day we fought off opposition in the shape of WBA etc to sign Paul Mariner from Div 3 (league 1 equiv) Plymouth Argyle. The best striker in div 3. Today's equiv must be Ivan Toney. Posh want many millions for him so is well out of our league. Mariner was fantastic for us. The point being we have fallen a long way, the salary cap has hamstrung us further. Although a big club by div 1 standards we have to compromise on players abilities and hope that PL and his coaches can make them better players. We desperately need a striker who can head the ball in this division, make themselves a threat. If Hawkins is up to that he could fit the bill. |
"... hope that PL and his coaches can make them better players." |  |
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If by Monday.... on 08:49 - Aug 14 with 3146 views | tractorboy1978 |
If by Monday.... on 08:43 - Aug 14 by Mullet | We’ve been told Norwood is far better than we’ve seen and was injured etc. Time to prove it. Holy was better than Norris, if he can’t keep Cornell out or Lambert can’t manage him we have the same issues. There’s been a lot of hype and hope around the kids. Ward allows us someone for 30 or so games to help them and be around the place to mentor. Realistically last season was appalling and as much as that’s down to Lambert, there are too many players already in the door who need to show more so signing players should be about allowing that to happen. |
If Hawkins is the sole forward being brought in then there is a big pressure on Norwood to deliver. I personally feel that's the position where we need to get a deal over the line for someone with a bit of pedigree. |  | |  |
If by Monday.... on 08:52 - Aug 14 with 3140 views | Herbivore | It's decent business. Most on here agreed we needed a better back up keeper, a LB, and a physical presence up front. These three tick those boxes. If Ward has much left he should be a good signing, let's hope he does have a bit left at nearly 35. Cornell I don't know much about, after the constant rotation of keepers last season I hope we don't see the same again. Holy is perfectly good enough for us, so I'd like to see Cornell as our cup keeper and back up. I haven't seen a lot of Hawkins so don't know if the lad can really play but he's experienced at this level and gives us a different option up top for when we need it. His ability to cover CB is a bonus too. Let's be honest, none of these are inspiring signings and only possibly Ward - if he can stay fit and isn't shot to bits - represents an upgrade on what we already have but it's about creating a balanced squad and these signings should add some more balance. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 08:58 - Aug 14 with 3118 views | Mullet |
If by Monday.... on 08:49 - Aug 14 by tractorboy1978 | If Hawkins is the sole forward being brought in then there is a big pressure on Norwood to deliver. I personally feel that's the position where we need to get a deal over the line for someone with a bit of pedigree. |
I agree, but I’m truly surprised by the bile aimed at Hawkins over say Cornell or Ward. From what I know he is your typical lower league handful. He ties defenders up and allows others to scramble into goal scoring positions etc. Lambert obviously fancies someone with more brawn and less skill after he bafflingly couldn’t see Keane isn’t that player, so I guess that’s a positive but it’ll interesting to see that if he gets it right we’ll be very much like an MM team again. |  |
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If by Monday.... on 09:45 - Aug 14 with 3050 views | Coco |
If by Monday.... on 23:16 - Aug 13 by PhilTWTD | Think they definitely want a centre-half, hence interest in Keogh. I think they've been working to the assumption Toto will be moving on. Will be interesting to see what scope they've got within the salary cap limit once the current three are sorted. Worth noting we'll have 23 over-21s so someone will have to move on (or spend a season only playing in the U23s while on a big wage). |
Although Marcus likes people who can fill multiple roles on one salary....... |  |
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